


the circumstances have changed

by alittleunstable



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Be warned trip will keep flirting even after skimmons are together, F/F, Jemma can't flirt, Leo Fitz - Freeform, Melinda May - Freeform, Peter is Tony and Steve's son, Skye is ashamed of her past as usual, Supportive!Coulson, Trip's a player, Trope: mind reading, also I love may so don't think i hate her, also Jemma is surprisingly chill about it, and by action i mean pout, and clearly bisexual i mean have you seen that boy, and technically it's only half an 084, completely disregards canon, featuring unsure of their relationship status!skye and Jemma, just cause he can't help it, like at all, mentions of superfamily, only it's not a baby anymore, phil coulson - Freeform, this time there is an 0-8-4 baby involved, trip is a flirt and if he doesnt stop that Skye will have to take action
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-22
Updated: 2014-07-14
Packaged: 2018-02-05 17:48:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1826872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alittleunstable/pseuds/alittleunstable
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skye made a mistake when she was sixteen. Now, she's gotta face it. </p><p>Also Jemma really likes children.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

She knows the second she lays eyes on her, really. Well, not for sure, but she just gets this feeling, like this is right, like she knows exactly who that little girl is. She kind of wants to scream and cry and laugh all at the same time, because this little girl is standing in the middle of the traintracks with a teddy bear and an alarmed expression on her very familiar little face, and this is not how she planned this at all. Hell, she wasn't ever going to even come close to doing this.

 

Either way, she doesn't have the luxury of some sort of existential crisis, because the train is coming and the kid's not moving, frozen in the middle of the tracks, and Skye has a very strong urge to beat the shit out of the teenager who threw the poor little girl's teddy bear onto the tracks to begin with, because if he hadn't, they wouldn't be in this mess.  
She knows Trip was told to save her, she knows, but she can't stand still, not now that she's spotted the girl, seen her face. She's running faster than she ever has in her life and somewhere in the back of her mind she wonders if those maternal super-powers can still happen even if you didn't raise your child, because within seconds she's shoving the girl onto platform two and jumping up after her. Before she can stop herself, she grabs her wrists firmly, but still gently, and gasps out, 

 

"Don't you ever, ever get on the tracks again. Do you understand me?" She knows she sounds like a crazy person, gasping and choking on tears at the same time, probably very close to an anxiety attack, but the girl just stares at her for a second, tilts her head, and then nods. 

 

"Sorry." Hearing her voice is a whole other issue apparently, because now Skye really is crying and she can't handle this. She can't. She knows she has no right and sooner or later she'll see the girl's adoptive parents come running around the corner telling her to let go of their daughter, but she still pulls the girl into a tight hug, right as the train passes.  
The girl doesn't pull back though, she holds on tight, and then says softly with a hint of a lisp, "You're my mummy." with such certainty that Skye's almost taken aback. She shouldn't have done this. She should have let Trip handle it. They were on the way back to the bus, it would have taken five minutes and they'd be gone. She'd never have interfered. But no, of course that couldn't be how things went. 

 

"Skye?! Skye, what the bloody hell were you thinking?" 

 

She's never heard Jemma quite so mad at her before and she seperates herself from the child quickly, her mind scrambling for an excuse and coming up empty, she's just so exhausted. She just opens and shuts her mouth a few times before falling on her ass next to the kid and sighing. 

 

"Sorry, Jem. I'm sorry." It's all she can manage, and Jemma's expression morphs into one of concern then, and she reaches out and grabs Skye's hands. Skye hisses at the contact, her fingers have grazes from hauling herself and the kid up onto the platform. 

 

"You're hurt. Why are you hurt?" Her eyes are wide and her grip is gentle, and that's when the kid (Skye's going to keep calling her that as long as possible because she refuses to call her hers, and calling her drunken teenage mistake is probably not socially acceptable) reaches out and tries to pry their hands apart, a frown on her face, contrasting heavily with the big yellow sequin happy face on the front of her pink shirt. 

 

"Don't do that, she's mine." She complains loudly, "She's mine." Her nose is adorably scrunched up and her eyebrows furrowed, pony tail swinging as she shakes her head at Jemma, trying hard to sound authoritarian. Skye can't help the tiny smile this reaction produces, before she remembers again, that she gave her away. She has no rights here. 

 

"Oh, hello," Jemma says brightly, smirking a little at Skye in response before concentrating back on the kid. "I'm Jemma, what's your name?"

 

"Anna." Shit. Shit, fuck, shit. She can't pretend now. She can't even entertain the thought that she's not hers, because she definitely is. She's hers. It hurts more than it should. She knows that she would have been a shitty parent at sixteen. She knows that, really, she does, but... She wondered what if a lot. And seeing her, hearing her, holding her, everything became so real so suddenly and she's not sure what's wrong with her because she should be grabbing Jemma's hand and running for the hills, but she's not. She's just sitting there, staring at her daughter in complete wonder, now. She's a gorgeous little thing, big almond eyes and long dark hair. She has fair skin, though, which is very much his and not hers, and her eyes aren't chocolate, rather a pretty green. 

 

That's her daughter. 

 

"Where's your Mummy and Daddy, Anna?" Jemma asks gently, and hell, Skye hadn't known she liked kids, she'd never mentioned it before, but she's squatting in front of her with this adorable smile on her face that's too sweet for words, and Anna's being shy now, rather than being possessive. 

 

"They sent me back," Anna says quietly, suddenly subdued. And that's when Skye's eyes widen because no, that's not possible, she chose Anna's family very carefully and they aren't the kind of people who would do that. "But it's okay cos I found my real Mummy," She finishes, and smiles a toothy grin, with a gap from where she's lost a baby tooth.  
"Oh? And where might she be, darling?" 

 

Skye winces the second Anna's hand comes up, a single finger pointing in Skye's direction happily. Jemma's eyes widen a fraction, and she opens her mouth to say something right as the rest of the team arrives, obviously having taken their sweet time once they saw Anna was safe. Jemma's lips fall shut again and she's obviously not sure what so say. 

 

"Nice save," Trip chuckles, "Stole my thunder." She knows he's joking so she doesn't do anything but force a smirk to the surface. 

 

"You're getting slow," She manages to tease, "Having trouble keeping up, Trip? No stamina?" She wiggles her eyebrows at the last bit and he laughs, but Jemma rolls her eyes. But then she blinks, stares at Anna for a second, and then back at Skye, and a satisfied expression crosses her face. She's made up her mind, and she stands up, right as Trip responds,

 

"I happen to have fantastic Stamina, thanks." He aims it more at Jemma though and Skye feels a scowl appear on her face because uh uh, no, mine. She herself doesn't see the immaturity in this thought until she remembers that's exactly how a six year old just refered to her, and she turns red, as though someone could have heard her thought, and hell, in this day and age, maybe somebody had. 

 

"I doubt that." Skye digs, only barely managing to not pout pathetically at Jemma to get her attention again, but luckily Jemma's eyes meet hers again in seconds and Jemma gives her a meaningful look, before gesturing to Anna and then the team. Ah, sometimes she hated that Jemma refused to keep secrets. 

 

"It really wasn't your fault at all, Agent Triplett," Jemma says steadily, her eyes never leaving Skye's, her eyebrows raised to indicate that she wasn't going to keep quiet, and Skye for a second entertains the thought of kissing her to shut her up. That wouldn't work for two reasons, one being the team is all around her, two being that Jemma would most likely just continue as soon as Skye pulled away, after some blushing and stuttering of course. She was so cute... "I'm fairly certain that this was a case of Hysterical Strength. Skye saw Anna, and acted immediately. I did think it was rather odd how effortlessly she lifted her onto the platform." 

 

Skye groans and runs a hand through her hair as everyone turns to stare at her, confused, but she can't blame Jemma. It's not her fault. But the little hand curling into hers definitely isn't helping her case any, and when she glances down she sees Anna's face, looking at her in fear. Fear that she's going to be left behind, Skye can only assume, but it still doesn't make sense that she wasn't with her adoptive parents. 

 

"Do you know this girl, Skye?" Coulson asks, an eyebrow raised that clearly said she should have mentioned it as soon as she'd seen her because feelings can compromise a person and Trip should have done the rescuing in this case, but she can't be bothered getting all uncomfortable under his gaze, considering she's pretty sure that everyone's going to think she's a shitty person after this anyway. 

 

"She's my daughter." 

 

Everyone reacts at the same time, Fitz gaping at her and mouthing, 'what?' to himself, Coulson and May are both expressionless which is never a good sign, Trip's just caught in the cheesy grin he'd been wearing before she said anything, but then she can never tell because he's always so chill all the time and maybe this is his actual reaction. Jemma's giving her a reassuring smile, like she doesn't care at all, like Skye just told her that she wasn't feeling well or something, not that she was literally sixteen and pregnant. 

 

"But you're twenty-two," Fitz finally bursts, and Skye immediately looks away because no, stop that. Don't do the math. Don't. 

 

"Hush, Fitz." Jemma scolds, and then reaches out tentatively and gently rubs Skye's forearm, trying desperately to comfort her and it's just another reason Skye loves her, really. "She's beautiful, Skye." 

 

Anna's head rapidly jerks up and she stares daggers at Melinda May out of nowhere, her hand tightening in Skye's, and she whispers, "No. I'm staying with you." To Skye with a strange urgency, like someone had just told her they were going to be seperated forever, "You're my Mommy." 

 

"I know, Anna," Skye responds, quickly discovering that she doesn't like to see her daughter distressed at all, and god this whole situation sucks royally. Her eyes meet Coulson's then, and she sighs. "Look, I gave her up for adoption, we've just gotta find her family and everything will be fine. It's my problem to deal with, so let me deal with it." 

...

 

After a mere ten minutes of searching, Skye found what she was looking for. And now she's sitting in her chair in the lab, staring at the screen like it's betrayed her. This isn't fair, It's not what she wanted for her little girl, not by a fucking long shot, but here it is, plain and simple. 

 

She's in foster care. Has been since she was a baby. Why? Because she has a hole in her heart. 

 

She's angry, really angry, and when a hand falls on her shoulder she almost jerks away, but she glances up and sees it's just Jemma, and she's worried so she can't vent on her. No way.  
"She has a hole in her heart. That's why they didn't want her. I didn't...If I'd stuck around in the hospital..." She sighs, "Miles showed up and I left because I didn't want to think about it. If I hadn't left..." 

 

"You couldn't possibly have predicted this, Skye. Don't do this to yourself." Jemma frowns, and she rubs Skye's shoulders as she speaks. "She's a lovely girl even so. She's very good at chess." That catches Skye's attention and she glances up, surprised. 

 

"You're playing with her?" 

 

"Coulson is, actually. They're having a very good time, she wins each round." Jemma pauses thoughtfully, "It's like she can predict what move Coulson's going to make. It's rather brilliant. Perhaps she should go into science-" 

 

Skye swats at her but she can't stop the giggle from bursting to the surface. "What's she like, though? Apart from that?" She's spent the last hour sulking down here after discovering the truth, so she's missed all of the interactions and she doesn't want to get attached but she also does and it makes no sense. 

 

"She's funny." Jemma smiles, "Like you. And very clever. A sweet thing too, she drew me a picture before the chess board came out and sucked up all her attention." Jemma's eyes shine with mirth when Skye tries to nod nonchalantly. "She kept asking where you were, you know." 

 

Skye straightens a little in her seat. "Oh? What did she uh, say?" She tries to sag back into her chair without being obvious but for once, she fails at hiding her feelings, this just means too much. 

 

"She was asking for her Mummy. She seems to really dislike Melinda for some reason, it's very strange." Jemma continues, eyebrows stitched together in bafflement. 

 

Skye can understand why that might be so. May can be scary as shit, even to her, she could only imagine what a kid would think when faced with her. 

 

"I'm not her Mom, though. I mean, I am, but...I'm not a mom." Skye strains, "I'll mess her up. And besides, this is a high risk job, I'd have to..." The thought of walking away from her family, the only one she's ever known, is terrifying, completely and utterly terrifying, and Jemma's about to respond when they hear light footsteps near them, and glance over. For one horrible second, Skye thinks she's hurt her feelings, but Anna just climbs very precariously onto the stool beside her and smiles at her softly. 

 

"It's okay. You gon' be fine." She pushes herself up onto her knees on the stool and reaches out, and if Skye hadn't been right there she'd have fallen right to the floor, but instead her arms wrap around Skye's middle and she buries her head in her stomach. She waits for Skye to loosen up and nervously hug her back, before she scoots up a touch and whispers (Well, more like stage whispers), 

 

"Jemma thinks you're pretty." 

 

Jemma jolts where she's standing because her exact thought less than ten seconds ago was, She looks so pretty when she's happy. And then it's just a manner of putting the pieces together, her prediction of the chess moves, her rejection of May, and now this, because she certainly hadn't told the child that she thought her Mother was pretty, and the timing was just too strange. She decides to test this, and thinks as hard as she can, 'If you can hear this, say Monkey.'

 

"Oh, does she now?" Skye grins, obviously assuming that Jemma had actually said this, but she doesn't get a response from Jemma, in fact, she just gets even more confused when Anna tilts her head, and then says clearly, 

 

"Monkey." Anna's nose wrinkles, "Why monkeys? Monkeys are smelly." 

 

No wonder she's so bloody literate, she hears everything. And then Jemma's eyes widen in horror because she'd been thinking some not so PG-13 thoughts about Skye earlier and she could only hope that Anna hadn't been listening then, because that would be beyond humiliating, and very inappropriate. 

 

"What?" Skye blinks, and then shoots a confused look at Jemma, only to see the look on Jemma's face and frown. "Hey, what's wrong?"

 

"Your daughter can read minds, Skye. She read mine, she read Coulsons, I can only imagine what she got from May's that's made her hate her, but this is a problem." 

 

Skye just stares at her for a moment and then whispers, panicked, "I pictured you naked like seven times!"


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Anna decides Fitz is the bees knees, Anna's origins are revealed and Skye finally makes a pass at Jemma.

_**Six Years Ago.** _

 

She's exhausted, her latest foster parents having spent the whole night screaming at each other, much to her irritation. She cradles her coffee close to her chest, the kids running past her and hastily opening and slamming lockers just blurring into white noise, until it's fifteen minutes into first period and everybody's in class. Or at least, she thought everybody was. Assuming the hallway is clear, she steps out, raising her coffee to her lips, only to come very close to slamming into someone. Luckily, the lanky guy she had almost spilt her coffee on is seemingly part ninja, and he dodges expertly, and then holds an arm out to steady her.

 

"Whoa, you look dead on legs. Are you okay?" He asks, and she blinks owlishly for a moment, before realizing herself and wincing.

 

"Yeah, sorry, I'm really tired," She murmurs, "Didn't mean to get in your way." She can hardly concentrate but she spends the majority of the sentence staring at his hair. It's ridiculously floppy, and if she were more awake she would have said something. Or just laughed.

 

He grins at her then, a wide, almost cheeky grin, and says,"I didn't mind. Although, I should probably walk you to your next class, make sure you don't endanger anybody else."

 

* * *

 

 

Anna spends twenty minutes in a chair opposite Coulson, while he thinks of something and she announces it. Skye had wanted to do it, initially, but Coulson had very gently reminded her that she had little to no training in controlling her thoughts and she could definitely do something not so great accidentally. That left Jemma and Skye sitting on the sofa, Skye's legs in Jemma's lap and her head hung over the arm of the chair, staring at the ceiling.

 

"Budapest." Anna squints, "Two agents, no extraction-"

 

"Next." Coulson jolts, obviously he hasn't been as great as he said he was at controlling his thoughts cause he looks uncomfortable as shit right now, but Skye refrains from commenting, suiting for just pouting in his direction. It seems, at this point, that everyone has spent some quality time with her daughter but her, and it's making the back of her eyes burn. She's not going to cry or anything, It's not like she really has any claim anymore, but she wants to.

 

Boy, does she want to.

 

"Can we stop now Mr. Phil?" Anna asks, glancing in Skye and Jemma's direction hopefully, "My head hurts."

 

Skye wonders if she's just saying that because she can sense how upset she is, or if her head really is sore and it's a side effect. Either way, she doesn't like it.

 

Jemma's back straightens and a look of worry blooms on her face. She worries too much, Skye absently muses. That doesn't make it any less adorable when Jemma's nose scrunches a tiny bit and her eyebrows furrow. "Where does it hurt, Anna?" She asks her kindly, "Can you show me?"

 

Anna pauses and squints her eyes again, and Jemma winces when she realizes she's searching her mind for something without her permission. That's something they'll have to work on. But after a moment, it becomes very clear that it's not Jemma's mind she's inside, it's still Coulson's. "You should tell him." She says to him, looking sombre. Coulson's face twists in something akin to shame, an expression Skye hasn't seen on him very often. Not lately, anyway. "He'll be sad if you don't."

 

And then she turns around like nothing had just happened and climbs into Skye's lap, heavier than Skye expected considering she looks so freaking tiny, but she smiles up at her, waits a moment as if unsure if she'll be pushed away, before encircling her arms around Skye.

 

She's sure her eyes are wide as she stares at Jemma over Anna's head, but Jemma's returning smile is wide and beautiful and she feels herself relaxing almost instantly.

 

"Mommy?" She asks after a minute, shifting in Skye's lap so that she can snuggle in closer.

 

"Yeah?" Skye hides a smile at being called that. She likes it a lot more than she'd ever imagined she would. Jemma's smile is growing as well, full of hope and pride and god, if she's not the best maybe-possibly girlfriend ever.

 

"I'm staying with you. I'm not going." Her words are determined but her voice shakes a little, because Skye's sure she can sense her indecision when it comes to what to do, but she also knows she can feel how much she wants her. She hopes that's enough for now.

 

"I know, Anna. I know." She tightens her grip around the munchkin, and she's not really surprised when she leans in to whisper something into Skye's ear.

 

"She wants to cuddle you too," She giggles, "And now she's singing 'Row your boat' over and over." It's kind of adorable how Jemma seems to keep slipping up and then trying to hide it when it's too late. Jem's cheeks are red though, and she's avoiding eye contact like no tomorrow.

 

"You hungry, lil bit?" Trip calls from the kitchenette, and Anna groans and buries her face in Skye's belly, looking much more exasperated than a six year old should be capable. Skye finds herself grinning because she's fairly sure the reason for Anna's reluctance is just the jealousy that she feels whenever he hits on Jemma. It's nice to know she's got backup, though.

 

"Tell him to go 'way," Anna mumbles, "I wan' Jemma to make me a san'wich." Her lisp is worse when she's upset, apparently, and her voice is muffled in Skye's shirt, but both women can hear her and a delighted smile appears on Jemma's lips.

 

"Sorry, Trip, she wants Jemma to make her something." Skye tries not to sound to self-satisfied. She does like Trip, honestly, he's a pretty chill guy, but she'd like him a whole lot more if he stopped expressing interest in her Jemma.

 

"All good. You mind if I fix her hair while you guys do that?" He sounds too eager for her to refuse, and Anna seems to agree because they share a look and the kid gets up, shuffles over to Trip, and sighs. Trip's grin grows and he says, "Awesome. Plait or pig tails?"

 

"Pig tails are for babies." Anna grumbles, and Jemma hides a giggle in a cough, and pushes Skye's legs from her lap. Skye ignores the little spark that shoots through her when Jemma's hands are on her.

 

"Come on, kitchen." Skye's honestly a bit startled when Jemma's hand slips into hers, but she's not complaining. She really hopes her hand isn't sweaty though because she's nervous and Jemma's smiling at her and has to squeeze her hand to get her to react and get up. It's all very embarrassing. Her gaze lingers on Trip's utterly puzzled expression as he tries to braid the thick mess that is Anna's hair. The fact that he hasn't even got a brush is very telling of just how much experience he has with this kind of thing.

 

Once they're in the kitchen, Jemma's pulling out the peanut butter and jam and so Skye figures she can be helpful and take out the bread. "So you're...really not upset about all of this?" the words come out before she can stop them and Jemma pauses, head tilting.

 

"About you being very young and afraid and deciding to give your child it's best chance? How could I be, Skye?" She's so very compassionate and kind hearted, and Skye feels her heart clench in her chest.

 

"Well, yeah, that, but I meant more...getting knocked up at sixteen. Most people think-" Her eyebrows are scrunched together and a pained expression is occupying her face when Jemma interrupts her.

 

"I don't care what most people think." Jemma says sharply, "What happened in your past is exactly that, in the past. In fact, what I find most interesting of all this, is that she seems to be more nature than nurture. It's easy to tell who she came from, she's just as lovely as you are. Stop fussing, I don't feel any differently about you." With that said, Jemma leans in and presses her lips to Skye's cheek. She lingers for a moment, as though wondering whether she should have kissed her on the lips to which the answer is definitely yes in Skye's opinion, but then much to her disappointment, she pulls away. "Could you pass me the bread?"

 

* * *

 

 

Coulson calls her into his office ten minutes after Anna's finished her lunch, while she's energetically telling Skye a story about a fish named Thomas that was in a book one of her foster parents read to her. Thomas was apparently very lonely in the beginning, until he made friends with an odd collection of sea creatures. The whole thing really reminded Skye of herself, before she met the team.

 

She tells Anna to sit outside, and Jemma lends her her own teddy bear- Skye files this piece of information away for later teasing- to hold, and Anna agrees to stay put, holding 'Sir Lancelot'- Again, filed away- and pretending he can talk.

 

She's pretty anxious, standing in front of Coulson's desk, watching him writing something down, face grim. Her whole body is shaking a little, because she's pretty sure this is the part where Coulson makes her choose, and she really doesn't want to. She wants to have her cake and eat it too, just for once in her life. Have what she wants without having to sacrifice something else.

 

And then he stops writing, looks up at her, and says, "We only have six bunks."

 

Her jaw drops a little, and then she cautiously questions, "Coulson?"

 

"She's an asset, Skye. Quite a strong one. If we put her on the index she becomes vulnerable. If we take her back to foster care, she's alone and has no help." He pauses to gage her reaction, "And you'd be damaged too."

 

"Then what," She frowns, trying to figure out how to phrase her question, "What exactly are you proposing?"

 

"You're going to have to sleep on the couch or ask one of the others if you can room with them. She's a kid, she's going to need space. I'm pretty sure she's not going to want to hear thoughts all night long, either." His smile is dry and knowing, "But there is a condition. Her powers could come in handy. Just a few readings here and there."

 

She pauses, recalls May's put off expression and realizes the older woman hasn't come out from the cockpit since Anna boarded the bus, and then frowns. "May doesn't want her here, does she?"

 

"Melinda thinks she may compromise the team, yes."

 

"And you don't agree."

 

"I think that sometimes, the people who could compromise you are also the people who, at the end of the day, keep you alive." His eyes turn sad then, and she feels a little guilty for doing that to him, "I know that from experience."

 

* * *

 

 

Anna decides that Fitz is the coolest thing since sliced bread for god knows what reason, and starts following him rather than waiting outside the office for Skye. At first, Fitz doesn't mind too much, he's just a little uncomfortable because _that's a child_ , and he hasn't a clue how to care for anyone that young. He's actually fairly proud of the skills he has in caretaking, he's very good with ill people, and he knows how to make the perfect chicken noodle soup that's cured his Mum's and sometimes Jemma's colds countless times, but he can't very well just feed Anna chicken soup and pat her on the head. She's energetic and bubbly and he's very confused.

 

She's also quite the sight, long dark hair pulled into the most pathetic plait he's ever seen- He has a feeling that's Trip's work, the specialist had really taken to the girl, but she didn't seem quite as interested in him. Fitz supposes it's the whole reverse psychology thing, he isn't nearly as interested in her, which is probably why she's singled him out. She's also got a smudge of peanut butter on her lip, from the sandwich Jemma made her. Is he meant to play with her? He's an only child, he wouldn't know how.

 

"I don't need something," She says after a while, looking up at him with what looked like- A smirk. An honest to God, teasing, utterly Skye, smirk. "I like what you say."

 

He pauses then, because he hasn't been saying anything-... _Oh_.

 

"Y' know, tha's really unsettlin'." He mumbles, but his hearts not in it. He mostly thinks about his ideas and how to bring them to life, the mere fact she can make heads or tails of it impresses him.

 

"Meh." She holds up Jemma's teddy bear then, and asks him, in a stage whisper, "Have you got a teddy?"

 

It's useless to deny it, so he nods. "Yes. His name's Timmy."

 

"Is he friends with Sir Lancelot?"

 

"No, Jemma's jus' got a weird obsession with Arthurian literature." He mutters, rolling his eyes at the thought of it.

 

"They can still be friends," She pouts, holding it tight to her chest. "S'ok Sir Lancelot, he doesn't mean it." She pats the teddy on the head, straightens his bow, and then holds him to her chest.

 

He's about to point out that the teddy probably can't understand her, unless she's also got some strange re-animation powers as well, when Skye hurries in, face twisted in panic.

 

"Oh thank God," She breathes as soon as she spots Anna perched on a lab stool, "Don't do that, Anna. You scared me."

 

"I wanted to talk to Fizz. He says lots." Anna explains, and then turns to Fitz, clearly expecting him to help her out here, but Fitz doesn't think he'd be quite so lenient with his own child, so instead he just gives her his sternest look. He ignores the fact that Skye seems far too amused that he'd just been referred to as 'Fizz'.

 

"Y' didn' tell me y' ran away from y' Mum." He raises his eyebrows at her. "Tha's not very nice now, is it?" Anna deflates in defeat.

 

"No." She mumbles. Skye raises an eyebrow at Fitz because the stern look he's giving Anna is actually kind of adorkable, and she wishes she could sneakily snap a picture of it to send to Jemma. She'd have a field day with it.

 

"Wha' d'ya say, then?" Anna seems to wilt under his gaze, pout deepening as she clutches Sir Lancelot.

 

"I'm sorry."

 

"Tha's right." He pats her on the head then, before his head catches up with him and he jerks away, looking horrified. Skye grins. Nobody can resist the adorableness of the little girl standing between them. "Um, right, then, y' better be off." He stammers, picking up some strange device and twirling it in his fingers, avoiding looking her in the eye.

 

What a dork.

 

Anna glances up at her and offers her a tentative smile, and Skye knows there's no use in playing stern when the kid can hear what she's thinking and knows that if anything, at this point Skye's just amused. "What now?"

 

"For you, munckin, bed time." She chuckles, and watches as Anna's face drops again and she groans.

 

"But I'm not tired! I wan' play with you." She gestures to Sir Lancelot, and says softly, "Fizz has a teddy too, you can use his." She resists the urge to laugh and grabs onto Anna under her arms and hoists her onto her hip, bopping her on the nose. Anna's giggle is a particularly nice sound, one that she really wouldn't mind hearing again, and once she's sure Anna's tightly wound around her and isn't going to be falling any time soon, she heads for the stairs.

 

"Jeez, you're so heavy." She teases, and then pretends to struggle to keep her up as she starts on the stairs, despite the fact that she's clearly very muscular and she knows Anna can see right through her act. It doesn't stop her from giggling like a maniac and objecting,

 

"No, I'm not!"

 

"Oh yes you are. I'm gonna fall," She makes a show of dipping Anna low, when Anna's giggles abruptly cut off and she clings onto Skye tight.

 

"Stop! No, no, no," She looks-Well, if Skye's honest, she looks fucking terrified. Small hands clinging fiercely to Skye's shoulders, green eyes wide, and her whole body stiff in Skye's arms. It's worrying.

 

"Hey, now," She manages to whisper, "It's okay, I'm not gonna let go, I promise." She waits a moment, where it's just a thick silence, Anna staring at her, almost calculating, before she nods and buries her face in Skye's shoulder. She doesn't cry, but the hacker still rubs circles into her back, hoping that this is something Anna will open up about in future. She's so young, and sweet, and bubbly that she's really hoping that it's just a tiny fear of heights, but the way Anna had stared at her, wide eyed and scared, said otherwise. Skye wasn't an idiot, she knew what foster care could be like. She'd never wanted her daughter anywhere near it.

 

"Are you two alright?" Jemma's voice carries down the staircase and Skye glances up, meets her gaze, and somehow, Jemma understands what she's trying to communicate and comes down the stairs to stand beside them. "It's her bedtime, isn't it?" She asks, trying to keep things light, and that's when a groan comes from the head buried in Skye's shoulder.

 

"Noooooo,"

 

"Good girls go to bed when they're told," Jemma points out, gently stroking Anna's messy plait, "And I think we both know you're quite tired." There's a hint of amusement leaking through Jemma's voice, and Skye meets her eyes, wishing she had Anna's power too. Wishing she knew what the fascinating brit was thinking. Anna whimpers, holding on tighter, and Skye sighs and continues carrying her up the stairs. She has half a mind to say, _'I feel ya, kid_ ,' and just let her do whatever she wants, but that would probably be frowned upon. And also, that's how children ended up spoiled brats.

 

"It's genetic, then." Jemma muses.

 

"What is?"

 

"Your bad girl shenanigans. Don't think i don't know that you try to stay up all hours of the night as well." She snarks, but the smile on her face has turned fond and she's looking oddly cheerful. Like this whole thing is fun to her, and Skye kind of hopes that it is. She kind of hopes that Jemma will want Anna, too, that it'll all work out and they'll be happy. It's what she'd hoped for as a kid, even. A family.

 

"Try? More like _succeed_."

 

"I doubt falling asleep in your breakfast is the definition of success." The biochemist teases, and Skye finds herself blushing because she'd been so sure Jemma had forgotten that particular incident. She was still wary of where her hair was at breakfast now, after having to fish quite a few froot loops out of it. She looks back up to meet Jemma's eyes and finds herself struck by the intensity in them, the way Jemma's looking at her. Like she just wants to-

 

"Yuck." She has a feeling she may have actually jumped the last three steps to the top of the staircase. Jemma raises an eyebrow at her, which is so unfair because Jemma has the most expressive eyebrows, it's her tell. When she lies, her eyebrows go way up, when she's confused they knit together and her nose scrunches adorably, and when she's annoyed, they tend to lower dramatically while she rolls her eyes. It's all just...Jemma. Suffocatingly, mind numbingly Jemma and she suddenly realizes that she needs to stop thinking about her. There's utter disgust on Anna's face now, and ack. Bad parenting 101.

 

"Sorry kiddo. I'll keep it PG from now on."

 

Jemma chokes and tries to cover it up with a cough, but if the flush of her cheeks is anything to from, Skye's been successful in ruffling her feathers, which is like number one on Skye's list of favourite pass-times.

 

It's actually pretty easy to get Anna to sleep, considering she's out like a light before they've even opened the pod door. She's a stubborn little thing though, even unconcious, as Jemma ends up having to help Skye pry Anna's hands off her shoulders and tuck her in.

 

"She's such a sweet thing," Jemma hums, gentle tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "A lot like you in that way, really."

 

"You think I'm sweet?" Skye croons, and then gets ahold of herself, "I mean, yeah. Yeah I'm great." She slides the pod door open and the two of them slink out, shutting it behind them softly. Skye thinks she can hear the beginnings of a snore from her daughter, but it could just be her imagination.

 

"And you're awfully humble as well,"

 

"You know it." She matches Jemma's smile with a wolfish grin of her own, only to have Jemma falter in her step and narrow her eyes.

 

"Wait. Skye, If Anna's sleeping in your pod, where are you sleeping? Surely not the floor, that'd be terrible for your back, not to mention your already lacking posture-"Jemma's eyes are wide and she's rambling on, so Skye almost misses what she says.

 

"Did you just insult me?" She tries her best to look affronted and has to shove down her laughter at Jemma's resulting expression.

 

"I-No, I..." Jemma stammers, "I meant, well...You _do_ slouch quite often, Skye." She worries her lip between her teeth looking apologetic and not unlike a kicked puppy, so the hacker kind of has no chance here.

 

"It's fine, I was just teasing you. I'm just gonna take the couch." She gestures with her thumb towards the communal lounge, but Jemma's lip curls at the thought.

 

"You can't do that, It's just as bad, if not worse."

 

"What am I supposed to do?" She asks, exasperation leaking into her tone. "I'm tired, Jemma. It's been a long day and I just wanna sleep. We can talk about posture tomorrow." Sarcasm probably isn't helping, but she can't stop herself.

 

"Sleep with me." The words are said with a straight face, Jemma's hands nervously twisting around each other, and Skye's just bewildered. Her lips are stuck in a permanent state of parted, stunned.

"Not-Not like _that_. " Jemma's whole face reddens and she looks at her feet, "I just thought it would be more comfortable. I understand if you think it's an awful idea-"

 

"Okay. Let's sleep together, then." Skye chuckles, and reaches out to get a hold of Jemma's hand before she can shy away, ignoring the sharp sting that causes. Even through the bandages, the slightest contact makes her hands burn like she's tearing the skin all over again. "Don't worry, I'm joking. Mostly."

 

"You shouldn't say things like that," Jemma admonishes, but the way her hand clings to Skye's says she doesn't really object as much as she puts on. "It's not polite."

 

It's something in the way that Jemma frowns, all proper and innocent, nose wrinkled, and her eyebrows furrowed. _God_ , how is it possible that she can be so adorable all the time?

 

Before she can let herself over think this, she closes the distance between them, and finally- Because Skye's been waiting for the right time to do this for weeks now, for crying out loud- she's kissing Jemma. It's better than she thought it would be. No, there's no fireworks or anything, but she's picturing a choir singing hallelujah because this is _awesome_ , and Jemma has really soft lips. soft lips that part in a gasp when Skye nips at the lower. She's not sure how long it's been, hell it could have been weeks and she probably wouldn't have noticed, when she hears footsteps and reluctantly pulls away.

 

She looks at Trip with something akin to victory, and he admits defeat with a good natured sigh and a chuckle, tossing his apple from hand to hand as he slips into his own pod.

 

"That was very nice." Jemma murmurs, cheeks flushed for what Skye thinks is a different reason now.

 

"I'm completely with you on that one," Skye beams, "Wanna go do it again? In private, this time?"

 

"Er, Skye...I don't really think this is something we should rush into."

 

"Just kissing. Pinky swear."

 

"You're insufferable."

 

* * *

 

 

It's two days later when Skye strolls into the lounge, half asleep and grabbing a banana in one hand, only hesitating for a second before ruffling the kid's silky hair with the other. Anna's on the floor in front of the couch, knees pulled up to her chest and draped in a pair of Jemma's flannel pyjamas, which Skye can't be sure who looks more adorable in. The T.V is switched on, which is a rarity, and it's on a news Channel. As a child, Skye couldn't stand the news, so she raises an eyebrow at Anna as the girl glances up.

"What are you watching?"

 

"The Avengers." She points to the screen completely absorbed, and Skye acknowledges that they're adding a new team member, Spiderman. She'd seen that one coming a mile away. She's a little unnerved by the guy, if she's honest, in the same way she used to be unnerved by Iron Man, because you can't see his lips move when he's talking or his expression and honestly it just gives her the hebejeebies. She notices that Anna's pressing against a loose tooth with her tongue while she watches, and she's not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing- Something to look into. She feels kind of like she's doing this all wrong.

 

She wonders only for a minute where everyone is, before recalling that Fitz had asked Trip to teach him to fight, so they'd be downstairs right now. Skye had her own suspicions on Trip's motives in agreeing though, but she's pretty sure that scientists, as a rule, are oblivious. So until Trip says something outright, that's going nowhere.

 

"Oh, yes, Coulson mentioned that," Jemma muses from behind her, arms sliding tentatively around Skye's middle. Skye turns, smiling. She looks gorgeous as usual, her hair mussed from sleeping restless starfish style, a lazy smile on her face. She's usually so co-ordinated and immaculately dressed, but she still manages to pull off the mismatched pyjamas. "I met him, a while ago." She adds.

 

"Oh, yeah? What's he like under the mask?" Skye asks curiously, turning around and intertwining their hands, smile widening when Anna looks up eagerly as well. "Stoic or geeky?"

 

"Peter's quite nice. Funny. His hair is ridiculous." She chuckles, not noticing her girlfriend going stiff in her arms. "I'm fairly certain you two went to school together, actually. Did you know him?" 

**Author's Note:**

> Considering continuing this, but not really sure.


End file.
